An event notification system (ENS) can operate in many different types of environments to receive messages, from a variety of input devices and systems, that have information about many different types of events, they can operate to determine how to react to information received in the messages and to generate and send an alert message to one or more individuals, and they can operate to receive and process responses to the alert messages. An ENS can be configured to operate in a number of different environments, such as a financial environment, emergency service environment, manufacturing environment, in healthcare environment and in many other types of environments. When operating in a healthcare environment, an ENS can receive information in an event message generated by a number of different types of event sources or call points, such as a patient monitor, a nurse call station, or any other type of call point employed in a healthcare setting. The ENS can operate to determine the origin/source of an event message, and it can determine whether or not to take further action with respect to the information comprising the event message. As a result of receiving an event message, the ENS can determine that an alert message should be generated and sent to one or more clinicians, and then wait for an alert response message that has response information the ENS can use to determine whether to take any further action, such as escalating the event to another clinician.
Event notification systems can be configured to link with wireless networks and to send alert messages to and receive alert response messages from mobile communication devices (i.e., wireless communication badge, smart phone or Wi-Fi phones). When configured to communicate over a wireless network, it is not necessary for medical staff to be paged, and then have to locate the closest wired communication device (i.e., POTS phone) in order to respond to an alert message. Instead, staff can use their mobile device to immediately respond to an alert message regardless of their location, and provided their mobile communication device is within range of a wireless network. This wireless notification and response capability has improved medical staff response times to patient emergencies, and generally improved the efficiency and patient satisfaction with which staff is able to work in a healthcare environment. FIG. 1A shows an event notification system (ENS), located in a healthcare facility, that is configured to connect with two types of wireless networks (Cellular & Wi-Fi), and a wired (POTS) communication network. The ENS operates to send alert messages over either the Wi-Fi or Cellular network to a mobile communication device associated with a healthcare staff member (clinician), and it operates to receive alert message responses generated by the clinician from the mobile device. The ENS is also connected to a plurality of event generation devices such as patient monitors and to other types of call points. The patient monitors and other types of call points respectively operate to detect physiological information relating to a patient and to detect requests or other information entered by a clinician and to send this information to the ENS. The call points are positioned strategically throughout the healthcare facility to serve as an ENS communication portal for the staff.